Arts Ministry

��ñ�� Launches Two New Ministries

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 17:05:50 +0000

��ñ�� Launches Two New Ministries

(St. Louis, MO) – Focused ministries to athletes and artists were launched in a special ceremony that was held during ��ñ��’s National Staff Conference in St. Louis, January 7-11, 2014. Both ministries have been growing steadily from small beginnings and have spread to campuses across the country in the three years since ��ñ��’s last staff conference.

Athletes ��ñ�� is directed by Maghan Perez, who came on staff with ��ñ�� after her career as a Division I Ice Hockey and Lacrosse athlete at the University of New Hampshire. Athletes ��ñ�� desires to see the whole athletic community reached: teams, coaches, athletes, trainers, and support staff.

“My heart for this ministry was born out of numerous painful experiences within athletics,” said Maghan. “The desire to be a part of helping launch this movement came from the realization that our teammates and other athletes need to hear and experience God’s love.” More than 1,600 athletes are already involved in the ministry on almost 40 campuses.

��ñ��’s Arts Ministry is directed by Dick Ryan, a long-time ��ñ�� staff member based in Chicago, and is designed to create welcoming communities of artists (musicians, architects, painters, media/film producers, dancers, writers, architects, etc.) in colleges and conservatories across the country.

“Ten percent of the student body is typically engaged in the arts,” said Dick. “Our goal is to equip artists to take Jesus with them wherever they go because artists create cultural statements through their work that influence many.”

Those involved in athletics and to some degree the arts are focused on performance. But the performance dynamic changes when the athlete and the artist offer their talents to God, rather than solely competing against others.

��ñ�� is a campus ministry which has worked with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses for more than 72 years. ��ñ�� has more than 900 chapters active on almost 600 campuses, from Ivy League universities to community colleges. ��ñ�� is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

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Athletes ��ñ��

Arts Ministry

Musical Ambassadors

AD-16225 — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:55:57 +0000

News

Musical Ambassadors

A student from China became a Christian just before coming to study at a college in Ohio. This student, who we will call Jared in order to protect his family, connected with ��ñ��’s fellowship for international students on this campus through Chris, ��ñ��’s student leader.

Jared and Chris became close friends with two other Christian students in the Music Certificate program.This past summer these three friends accompanied Jared in a Chamber Music Tour to China. Chris explained how it all came together.

Uncontainable Faith

I found out not long after meeting Jared that the faith in Christ he discovered in his native China was uncontainable. You could not have an interaction with him and be unaffected by Christ’s life exuding from him. He possessed a kind of pure and vibrant faith you typically see in more mature believers. It was surprising for me to discover that he had only been a Christian for several months and that his beliefs were not shared by his family members back home.

As the first believer among his relatives, Jared had a longing to reach his family with the gospel in a creative and authentic way. As Jared’s friendship deepened with the three of us, God revealed to him that bringing this particular group of friends from America, united in faith and art, could powerfully express to his relatives the reality of faith in Christ.

When he proposed the idea of performing in China to the three of us, we were excited by the opportunity. But none of us had ever done anything like this or had even heard of anyone doing anything quite like this before. Little did we know that Jared was laboring with God in prayer about our mission. As a result, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.

All the Pieces Fell Into Place

The dean from Jared’s alma mater in China invited us to perform, agreeing to advertise our concert and provide a venue for it free of charge. A relative who was a university professor in southeast China also offered to host a concert at her institution. We realized that Jared’s idea was possible after all.

Our next obstacle was financial. How could four grad students afford to travel to China and live there for three weeks? We witnessed another miracle through the financial aid of an arts advocacy organization affiliated with our School of Music.

Members of the local Christian community also provided significant funding and essential prayer support. It was humbling to see Christians from so many churches in our city selflessly contribute to Jared's vision. I have never experienced the body of Christ coming together in such a loving and sacrificial way to champion a cause for God's Kingdom. In the end we had more than the amount needed to make the trip a reality.

The final challenge was the trip itself. How could four students coming from very different backgrounds fare together in a high stress environment abroad? How would the audiences receive our performances?

Better than Imagined

Our time in China offered more to us than we could have imagined. We gave two formal performances of our musical program, World Potpourri: A Collage Recital. We featured nationalistic music of various classical composers as well as works with biblical texts or themes as a way to reflect our ensemble’s ethnic diversity and highlight the Source that drew us together.

Many important people attended our concerts, such as deans and professors of music, from both China and America. We received many positive comments about our performances, as well as too many flower bouquets to count.

More than 1,000 people attended our humble recital in Jared’s hometown. The local news broadcast portions of our performance and an interview with Jared on TV. We accepted countless requests for pictures and even autographs!

We also experienced a true insider’s view of Chinese society. We had the chance to eat dinner in Chinese homes, have meaningful conversation with family members and friends, interact with a local artist on the Great Wall, and hike across waterfall-strewn mountains and through remote villages.

A Contribution to a Local Fellowship

At one hotel our cleaning lady spotted a Chinese Bible we were carrying. She revealed that she also was a worshipper of Jesus and shared how her whole village turned from idols to serve the living God in 1990 through the work of a Chinese missionary. Her village was in the process of building a church but lacked funds to install windows and doors. We were able to bless these precious believers with a financial gift for their building and pray with her for their spiritual needs.

I think she blessed us much more than we blessed her. Listening to our Chinese sister’s stories of how Jesus transformed her life and the lives of those in her community, and sing worship songs to God in Mandarin, brought us to tears. We learned that God is at work in bigger ways than we can perceive in the lives of those we often forget.

The Fruit of the Gospel

The fruit of the gospel is spreading at an explosive rate in China, but we observed that many impediments such as social structures, cultural attitudes, and spiritual strongholds are still preventing the Good News of Jesus to do what it was fully intended to do there. We continue to pray for Jared and his witness, Jared’s parents, and the vitality of the community of believers in villages like those of our cleaning lady.

Since we’ve returned from China, I think we are still in a state of awe over how all four of our lives came together so beautifully at just the right place and time to partake on this adventure. Making music to the Lord in a distant land brought new, fresh perspectives to our individual lives as Christian musicians, as well as a deeper appreciation for cross-cultural friendships in Jesus.

News Keywords

music

China

Arts Ministry

Two Year Turnaround

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

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Alec Hill

Two Year Turnaround

Last month, as Mary and I sat teary-eyed watching our oldest daughter graduate from Georgetown University, I reflected back on a much different set of emotions just two years ago.

In August, 2006, six evangelical ministries – including ��ñ�� – were summarily disaffiliated from campus life. While Georgetown continued to affiliate other outside religious groups, such as the Muslim Student Association, the Knights of Columbus, and the Jewish Student Association, our three-decade relationship with the university was apparently over. This was harsh news not only for our 80+ students, but also for the thousands of our Georgetown alumni over the past three decades.

Looking back, I am so proud of our student leaders. Avoiding the extremes of belligerence, on the one hand, or passivity, on the other, they collected signatures, rallied student government to their cause, and met with key administrators. Likewise, our campus staff were also superb, dealing deftly with the media, counseling students to exercise patient persistence and not burning any bridges with Georgetown officials.

At the national level, a number of ��ñ��’s friends intervened on our behalf. The presidents of Gonzaga and Wake Forest made key phone calls. Evangelical leaders ranging from Chuck Colson to Ron Sider got involved. We even had a U.S. Congressman and a Vice President for the university’s investment firm chime in.

The good new is that in May of 2007 – ten months after our removal – Georgetown announced sweeping changes in the way that outside Protestant campus groups would heretofore interact with the university. And, ��ñ�� was welcomed back as a full member of the campus community.

Of all the people responsible for this remarkable turn-around, I credit two individuals the most. First, Georgetown Vice President Phil Boroughs appointed a task force to assess Protestant campus ministries. The group – which met for the entire academic year – included the Protestant Chaplain, faculty members, and representatives from various outside campus ministries. Dr. Boroughs managed the process masterfully.

The second person is Kevin Offner, our graduate student staff member at Georgetown (and four other DC universities). Not only did Kevin serve on the year-long task force, but also he now chairs a newly constituted ongoing committee that will oversee all Protestant campus ministries. A very surprising outcome.

What is the significance of this reversal? On a basic level, we are now on sound long-term footing with one of our nation’s leading academic institutions. However, the impact of our reinstatement goes much further than that. All 26 American Jesuit institutions now know that we are a good campus citizen. And, our reputation will no longer be in doubt at the 220 other U.S. Catholic colleges and universities.

As I’ve said many times, ��ñ�� not only loves the fish (students and faculty), but we care for the pond (the university) as well. It is part of our vision to pray for its renewal. Two years ago, my reaction to our disaffiliation was one of confusion and hurt. Last month, at my daughter’s commencement, my response was vastly different. Thanks both to His providence and courageous human leadership, things have vastly changed. As I drove away from the Georgetown campus, I felt a deep sense of thankfulness and blessing.

___

You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s work at Georgetown University by following this link.

For more background information regarding our status at Georgetown, go here.

^{Photo: Georgetown University}

News Keywords

Arts Ministry

Campus Ministry

Followers of a Creative God

webteam@intervarsity.org — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:00:00 +0000

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Followers of a Creative God

Arts ministry is an outreach to graduate and undergraduate students, as well as faculty, in music, creative writing, dance, visual arts and design, film and media, theater – creating witnessing communities for these often under-served population groups. The arts ministry also invites these artists to help in our communication to the whole campus – finding new and creative ways to tell the Jesus story to today’s contemporary culture.

Indiana University (IU)
Michelle Robinson reports: “I’ve continued to be thankful for our monthly arts dinners in the fine arts school. Our November dinner was another exciting time . . . as my students and I were serving the meal that night, we looked at each other and said: ‘I don’t recognize most of these students.’ God is using these humble dinners to allow us to engage more and more students in the fine arts school.”

There are two witnessing arts communities, with weekly meetings, functioning at IU now. One primarily serves visual artists and media/film folks, while the other serves music students. Michelle’s “Spirituality and Art Discussion Group” has seen great outreach fruit, both to Christian students and to spiritual seekers.

Columbia College, Art Institute of Chicago, and Roosevelt University
Dave and Erin Foster are creating a very interesting arts community that simultaneously serves students from many colleges at once. They have weekly Large Groups which all students attend, plus many Bible study/small groups scattered among the various campuses.

Dave and Erin are participating in the national “Chapter Planting Cohort Program,” and are working closely with Dr. Colin Harbinson, international specialist on the integration of faith and arts, as their “planting coach.” The relationship-building aspect of the community that is forming in Chicago’s Loop is genuine, and benefits from dinners, which the Fosters host in their home, as well as retreats and special training times.

DePaul University
Two groups of music students, who had organized weekly Bible studies, have become an active part of the ��ñ�� work on campus. One group meets at noon, and is primarily designed to reach out to non-believers. The other meets after dinner, and is a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, a large number of artistic students are involved in the on-going chapter activities, not to mention the Gospel Choir activity that Latina Williams serves. Latina Williams and Phil Nordquist are the staff at DePaul. At a recent Saturday lunch planning session, ten student leaders eagerly planned for the arts ministry work during the next school year.

Northwestern University (NU)
For the past three years, there have been weekly meetings of the NU Arts Group. This year, this group was led by two grad students in music, both of whom are highly respected musicians, as well as being energetic spiritual leaders of the NU ��ñ�� arts community. The group primarily serves music students, although there have been theater/film and journalism students involved as well.

Forming real community, with a special desire to reach out to include non-church students, takes several forms. One is simply social: post-recital/performance parties are a regular occurrence, as are outings to see performances together. This group also discusses very practical arts subjects, such as performance anxiety, handling the stress of auditions and rejections, at its meetings. These discussions not only connect the students to what the Bible says about stress and rejection, but also serve the felt needs of all arts students. Including faculty and professional working artists as guests in these discussions has proved very exciting, especially since there are many famous performers in Chicago and on NU’s faculty.

University of Illinois
Eriko Ishitsuka reports: “While attending School of Leadership Training during the summer of 2007, Sophia, a junior violin performance major, realized that she was called to build up a community among artists on campus. Praise God for her obedience in organizing the group this semester, and for the enthusiastic response of artists that are eager to support each other through prayer and Bible study.”

University of Illinois–Chicago
An arts group has already started meeting, headed up by a senior film major named Jerry, who is also the Large Group coordinator for the UIC Asian-American Chapter. There are many students at this university that are majoring in non-arts subjects (engineering, pre-med, accounting, etc.) but who still have a real passion to use their arts gifts. So Jerry has started a bi-weekly meeting to serve his chapter friends, whether they are planning careers in the arts or pursuing arts as a secondary interest.

University of Evansville and Southern Indiana University
Staff workers Kevin and Esther Wilson report that they have had small groups of theater majors meeting at both schools for several years. These groups are student led arts communities that pray and study the Bible together.

Arts Community serving the Great Lakes West region:

At Wisconsin’s Cross Training Fall Conference
For the seventh year, the conference included a track to equip artistic students to live out their calling to be Christians and artists. But more important, the seeds we have been planting in Wisconsin arts students and their chapters are bearing great fruit.

During the plenary sessions, there were some excellent dramatic sketches – performed by students from Milwaukee School of Engineering– that communicated powerfully about the practical realities of being a Christian on campus. There was also some powerful on-stage worship drawing done by a senior from Carthage College, as well as an arts corner at the back of the room, where students could go to express their worship and their prayers – and dozens did so.

Bob Wolniak in Milwaukee and Chad Britten at Carthage College have been nurturing the use of drama, dance, and visual communication for years, and the impact of their work is clearly seen.

Through Resource Sharing
There was a half-day meeting in Evanston in October, 2007, at which staff from around the region discussed the need to share resources about communication and meeting/event planning. Shannon Marion and Robert Burdett have been encouraging the formation of this resource network for years. Jeff Yourison and Scott Wilson, both from our National Service Center in Madison, have agreed to help us create a simple and practical plan to share good ideas from one campus to another.

Across the Region
More and more chapters are experimenting successfully with visual and dramatic sketches as part of evangelism. To name just a few: at Valparaiso University, Purdue University, and Indiana University, chapters have created outreach events that allow for interaction among our ��ñ�� students and those who are attracted to the activities presented. During chapter camps at Cedar Campus, many plenary coordinators have been creative in the way they add to the power of the expositions through application questions and activities, which are often visual and/or interactive. At many chapters, Large Group Coordination teams regularly utilize film clips, visual arts, and dramatic sketches as part of their presentations.

Many of us hope that what we are now seeing in ministry to artists and ministry using the arts to improve communication is just a beginning. Let us pray that ��ñ��’s ministry will continue to grow in the expression of God’s creativity which he has shown us in his Word and the world.

___

You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s Dick Ryan and his work with students in the Arts in the Great Lakes West Region by following this link.

News Keywords

Arts Ministry

Arts Ministry

��ñ���� Launches Two New Ministries

��ñ���� Launches Two New Ministries

Musical Ambassadors

Musical Ambassadors

Uncontainable Faith

All the Pieces Fell Into Place

Better than Imagined

A Contribution to a Local Fellowship

The Fruit of the Gospel

Two Year Turnaround

Two Year Turnaround

Followers of a Creative God

Followers of a Creative God

��ñ�� Launches Two New Ministries

��ñ�� Launches Two New Ministries